How to Prepare Your Cats for Disaster
Thursday March 27, 2008
Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, and tornadoes are for the birds, but unless we want to be like "Chicken Littles," or the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, we need to face facts and make preparations. The facts are that hundreds of pets are lost every year to disasters, and, many more are rescued but never reunited with their owners because of lack of identification. So, plan now to avoid future confusion. These cats had enough warning to wait out a tornado in their bathtub, thanks to their owner's preparation. Photo Credit: © Ann Wood
Comments
This is a good topic. I was in the military in the Philippines in 1991 when we had to evacuate our homes and eventually the entire island due to the volcanic erruption of Mt Pinatubo. Some families were not prepared and left their pets in the bathroom with a tub full of water and bowls of food since they assumed it was going to be a short evacuation. The base was evacuated and the police had to shoot dogs and cats left behind since they were becoming a safety hazard to the remaining security forces. During the ship board evacuation, pets were dying at an alarming rate en route and had to be thrown overboard. I’m not sure how that could have been prevented, but it was sad. Luckily our pet made it safely back to the states, but died later that year as a result of a negligent gun shot wound.
Thank you so much for this post! It is extremely helpful to me, as a new cat owner!
We ran into many problems with animals during hurricane Katrina. It was often impossible to hoist them up into the helicopters since they were obviously scared. On a few occasions we had to cut away the animal only to have it washed away. It was very sad. Like Chris’s comment above, I don’t know what could have been done to rectify the situation.
Any ideas?
Plan accordingly folks. If it can happen to you, it can happen to your cats.
I carry a fly-away kit in my car. It contains extra food, water, and medicines. I had to use it on myself this winter when my car crashed in the woods in the middle of winter in colorado. I was in the middle of no where and had to eat the cat food until rescue crews managed to find me a week later.
Franky, I’m glad the cat food wasn’t tainted! Who knows what you were eating!
My cat Sophie ended up enjoying herself as we sat out Hurricane Isabel in Baltimore. Fortunately all we lost was power for around 20 hours. She reveled in seeing birds flying all over the place; one tree on my block was the home of many birds (no one would park under that tree) and the winds and rain sent them scurrying. Fortunately we did have good notice and did not have to evacuate. I had plastic gallons of water, dry food, and water in my bath tub to keep Sophie safe. I keep provisions in my kitchen in case of emergencies, but haven’t had some since my Isabel encounter the fall before Katrina caused so many pet owners heartbreak.
I live in Tornado Alley (central Illinois) and when a warning on T.V. comes, I would always round up the cats and put them in a sheltered area in the basement. My mom always thought I was being unreasonable, but I loved my cats too much to leave them upstairs!